Let me share my story with you. As a young boy in the small small towns of Wisconsin, my grandparents owned a restaurant called the Three B’s Café, (it later became the Dallas Cafe for those of you who know). I have so many memories from those days. Grandpa cooked in the kitchen and Grandma and my mom waited tables in the dining room. The locals came in for breakfast on their way to work, then in for lunch a few hours later. Some even came back again for coffee the same afternoon before they went home to their families for dinner. It was that kind of small town café. Everything was homemade; pancakes, soups, hot beef or pork sandwiches, burgers, donuts and pies. I remember going to the local butcher with grandpa in his pumpkin-orange Ford truck to pick up the beef every other Friday to have the meat and soup bones that made those burgers and soups. Each package stamped with the cafe’s own stamp - an image of three bees. That image has stuck with me my entire life. I will never forget those bees. The three stamped on those packages…and the three that started that cafe.

From way back then, I have always held a fondness for bees, honey, beeswax, flowers, etc. Anything to do with bees. Grandpa, grandma, and my mom - they were the Three B’s back then, (their last name started with B). Those three ‘B’s have forever shaped me and my life. My first job was at that very café. I washed dishes there from the time I was 11. First from time to time in the summers, (when I needed money), then every Saturday once I was in junior high. That café was the first place I learned to really work. And work hard! We buzzed around there like busy little bees on weekends, the three of us. Grandpa was cooking away at the grill, grandma was waiting tables and I was washing dishes. We made it happen.

That little café is also where I learned to “close to open”. When you leave at night, the place better be ready to open the next morning when you get there. A concept I have used in my retail career (again, for those that know, you know).

Next door to that little café was Jorstad’s Store. That store was everything. Bob and Alfa owned it back then. John and Betty, their son and daughter-in-law worked the business, too. I will never forget that old General Store. You could buy everything there. When you first came up the steps from outside and opened the heavy front door, the bell rang to let everyone know you were there.

To your left was Alfa’s home department. Along the back wall you could buy any notion you needed from ric-rac & buttons to zippers & pins to yarn. She had a whole wall of bolts of fabric. You could make a dress, a shirt, an apron or a skirt. You could crochet a doily or knit a sweater. You could buy a mixing bowl, a blender, a tea towel, an apple peeler, or an embroidery hoop. Don’t forget the new apron or a fresh pair of hose.

On your right, across the back wall, you could buy a rifle or a rod & reel from John’s sporting goods shop and the license to head out to use them. You could then get yourself a camo jacket, a new pair of overalls, some jeans, a chambray shirt or some fresh new wool socks. Out back, behind the groceries, past the amazing fresh produce and meat counter, you could find yourself some bolts and nails, a new lawn mower or a pitch fork.

I remember having some of my favorite things from that old store. I still have the chopper mitts I got there one winter when I needed better mittens to help grandpa shovel snow. My favorite khaki Lee jeans in 6th grade were from there. Fond memories.

Later, when Bob and Alfa retired, John and Betty took over the store. My fondness for the place grew. Betty turned the front of the store into a small selection of antiques and collectibles from the family stash. I still have many of them in my assortment of collections today; a leather suitcase once belonging to Bob Jorstad’s father, a vintage quilt my grandma bought me as a housewarming gift, and some Marcrest pitchers, (which started one of said collections). I am certain there are many more.

These two hometown businesses are two of the places which have brought me to where I am today. I will never forget the smell of that café with all of its home-cooked goodness wafting through the air and its dining room filled with familiar faces, stories, and laughter. That dining room was complete with the red and white gingham curtains and the matching tablecloths stacked up with the heavy Buffalo ironstone dishes with the green stripe trim. And I will never forget the jingle of the bell on the front door, the squeak of the wood floor, and the slam of that back screen door of Jorstad’s store as I ran in to grab a last minute ingredient for something I was cooking or baking at the café.

After all of the years in that small town taking it all in, I went off to study Retail, Merchandising and Management at UW Stout. Now, many years later, after putting it all to good use with retailers like Gap, Coach, Ralph Lauren, and Pottery Barn, I am glad to be continuing my love of nostalgia, thrift, vintage, and unique finds with you all. There is a new ‘B’ added to the family story here at Btown Mercantile. The ‘B’ may stand for Bloomington where we are now based, but the ‘B’ in Btown has a deeper meaning to me. I am one of the 'B’s, and being able to carry out a new version of a general store, in a new way for you all is fantastic! Thank you for being here, taking a minute to read my story and for joining me on this leg of my retail journey.